Winter worsens war misery
A military offensive against an opposition-controlled region of northwestern Syria has created one of the worst catastrophes for civilians in the country’s longrunning civil war, sending hundreds of thousands of people fleeing, many of them sleeping in open fields and under trees in freezing temperatures.
The military campaign in Idlib province and the nearby Aleppo countryside has also killed hundreds of civilians, and a bitter winter has compounded the pain.
The weather has contributed to at least 10 deaths, including four who suffered hypothermia, a family of four who died of asphyxiation in their tent, and two who burned to death when their tent caught fire, said Mohammed Hallaj, a coordinator for the area’s Response Coordination Group.
The government’s Russianbacked assault on Idlib, the Syrian opposition’s last stronghold, has uprooted more than 830,000 people since December 1. Most of them had fled towards safer areas near the border with Turkey, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. At least 143,000 people have been displaced in the last three days.
‘‘Humanitarian needs are increasing exponentially,’’ Dujarric said.
Terrified families piled on trucks and vehicles, sitting on top of mattresses and blankets, are clogging sludgy rural roads in harrowing scenes that have been seen often in Syria’s conflict, now in its ninth year.
Around half the territory’s population had already been displaced from other parts of Syria, so formal camps are full.
The UN World Food Programme said it was forced to temporarily stop food distributions because the recent upsurge in hostilities had disrupted the movement of trucks carrying supplies into the region from Turkey.
Yesterday a government helicopter was shot down and its crew killed amid the fighting in Idlib. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the helicopter was downed north of Aleppo city by Turkish military forces stationed in the opposition-held region.
Turkey, a backer of Syria’s opposition, has been deploying equipment and troops in the region, which is home to more than 3 million people, in an attempt to halt the Syrian military’s advances. Clashes between the two sides have killed 13 Turkish military personnel and 13 Syrian troops.